My clinical work as a speech-language pathologist with patients affected by neurologic conditions ignited a lifelong interest in how the human brain controls speech and a passion for patient-centered research. My research focuses on understanding the effects of the neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease and stroke on speech production and orofacial motor function using kinematic, acoustic and perceptual methods. My research program has three independent but related themes: The first theme is focused on solving issues of early diagnosis and subtyping of the bulbar form of ALS to expedite patients' referral to speech-language pathology services and improve stratification for inclusion in clinical trials. The second theme is devoted to the development of an automated, remote platform to help patients and speech-language pathologists manage complex neurological diagnoses. The third is concentrated on the development of new treatment approaches for motorspeech and related disorders. All three themes are united by the overarching goal of developing novel technologies and methods based on artificial intelligence/machine learning and data science that can significantly impact clinical practice in speech-language pathology and neurology.
Dr. Yana Yunusova received her PhD in Communicative Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005 and joined University of Toronto in 2007. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and recently served as an Acting Director in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI). She is an Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and a Senior Scientist at UHN Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (KITE). She is a certified Speech Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP, Reg. CASLPO).
- Senior Scientist, KITE (TRI)Professor, Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto
- Associate Scientist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre